Ace Attorney: Turnabout Nephew
by NaruTard 1.5
Summary: Maxwell knows he's brilliant. After all, he flew through Law School in four years & got an internship at his uncle's law office. Everything is perfect, until he screws up his first real trial & his uncle is charged with murder! The evidence is solid, the testimonies are bulletproof, & his ESP isn't helping. Max can 'sense' that Uncle Wright is innocent, but how can he prove it?
1. Part 1: Internship & Failure

Author's Note: Important Evidence Within!

1: I Have only 'completed' the first game in the series, so I will say this right now: This story is an AU that assumes the series ends shortly after Turnabout Sisters Ends. Also, the OC's relations to Canon characters are really only a footnote and have nothing to do with the plot.

2: Like everyone, I'd love to be a better author, with that in mind; practice and lots of solid critique, positive or negative will help. If you have the time; and any thoughts on this story you want to share, feel free to share them.

3: When you see *insert Song Title* that means there's appropriate music for the current situation. Since links aren't allowed, I've included a link to a youtube playlist of Phoenix Wright sound tracks in my profile. Listening to these songs while reading is entirely optional, they're just there to add a little extra 'kick' to the story.

4: A one shot that has multiple chapters is still a one shot people. Just putting that out there, then again, there's no telling what the future holds *evil chuckle*

Phoenix Wright: Turnabout Nephew Pt 1 of 3

May 20th 7:30 AM, Maxwell's Dorm Room

Maxwell Fay, born on May 23'rd around twenty four years ago; after learning about his famous uncle, Phoenix Wright and his amazing exploits in Japan's court, he was determined to hone his ESP skills by becoming a defense attorney. Despite starting at a young age of 20, the five foot; seven inch tall student flew through four years of law school. Normally a heavy sleeper, the black-haired student was tossing and turning in his bed within a standard-sized dorm room with the usual furnishings.

"Hmm…no…Uncle-objection! Gah…huh…" Max awoke in shock as if he'd been stabbed by some phantom pain in the back. "Ugh…that dream again—are spirits familiar with Uncle trying to tell me something? Nah, my Acolyte training isn't that complete yet…I've barely even started with it." He finished as he turned to face the nightstand at the left side of his bed.

Max moaned as he looked at the clock, it was two hours too early to wake up; on a Saturday even, still he figured some spirit or something would keep pestering his dreams. So he slinked out of bed and walked into the cramped bathroom, taking a nice hot shower to calm his nerves. Once he was squeaky clean he dried off and put on his lawyer uniform; a violet tux and a pair of black dress pants, they fit snugly onto his hardly masculine build. He'd just finished brushing his teeth and combing his hair when someone knocked at the door, by the time he reached it the person had left; and there was a white envelope stuck underneath the door. It was a little hard to see this early in the morning, so he grabbed his glasses from his computer desk and put them on.

"Wright & Co Law Offices…it's from Uncle~ I wonder what was so important that he had to mail it physically instead of just an email…let's see." Maxwell thought aloud as he examined the letter, it was priority mail; so he opened it cautiously.

_"Hey champ, your mom called and told me that you'll be graduating law school later today, assuming the letter arrives on time. I looked at your records, and I found them pretty impressive; I also remembered that your birthday is coming up, so I thought of an awesome surprise. It's been eight long years since I started my career here in Japan, and I'm starting to get cases right and left. What does that have to do with you, well—what do you think? I'll be waiting for your answer in person, your school has already set things up~ love, Uncle Wright." _

By the time Maxwell was through reading the letter, his face was beaming; he couldn't wait to see what the so called surprise was! Of course; he had his suspicions, but usually he was kept in the dark when his Uncle had a surprise. He spent the rest of the morning packing for his trip; he brought everything, his laptop, his cd player, and his game system, along with the essential toiletries and such. He'd always wanted to go to Japan, but his mother refused, claiming it was too expensive of a trip; but now it was on the school's dime, so she couldn't deny him. It would be interesting though, since he hadn't met his uncle in person in such a long time, and even then it was because his father had taken him along on a business trip.

The Graduation Ceremony went through quickly and so did the rest of that day; at least in Max's mind. Of course for his final practice trial to earn his diploma was a re-creation of a murder that happened around the time his uncle started working. It was a bit rough, his rival had him pinned down, and then when it seemed like he'd lost, he found contradictions in the witness's testimony, and picked them apart like a pro. His victory earned him not only his Lawyer's badge, but an internship at his Uncle's office and an arranged flight to Japan; it would be amazing to test his skill in a real case.

May 23rd : 8:00 PM, White & Co. Law Offices

It had only been a day since Maxwell started his internship, and wouldn't you know it; his sometimes hot headed Uncle set him up with a bank robbery. It was a tough case, and Maxwell nearly had it, until he tried to use his senses to pick apart the final witnesses testimony. Go figure, he knew the men in the Fay family weren't as strong as the women; but for it to be this big of a difference in a real court, needless to say he was really bummed out. His Uncle Wright had set up a blind date to cheer him up, but that was of little use; if it was someone who worked with his Uncle for eight years, she'd probably be someone really lame.

"Cheer up Max, your date won't be happy to meet you if you're so blue; look on the bright side, at least you proved that the accused was an accomplice." Wright chimed with a laid back tone as he patted Max on the back.

"An accomplice still makes them guilty Uncle….I don't know about this partner of yours, what makes you think she's my 'type' in the first place?" Max responded with a sour tone, throwing a suspicious glare at him through his glasses.

Phoenix looked exactly like Max remembered, he was tall, well built, and dressed in a Navy blue lawyers outfit; and of course that signature spiky black hair. Regardless of how Wright bragged about how loyal the girl was, Max questioned how a blind date would cheer him up; of course Wright probably knew his habits just from how he got lost staring at the hot witness. Wright and Company's law office was about as basic as he could imagine, case files lined a bookshelf at the back, a computer desk with his uncle's name on it, a poster from an old movie, a couch and three windows. Something about the thought of meeting this girl made Maxwell anxious, like serious butterflies in the stomach anxious. Maybe the spirits were trying to tell him to calm down; if they were they were doing it the wrong way.

"Nick, Nick…N-I-C-K….OPEN UP! What about that neat friend you mentioned?!" Of course the voice was almost as cute as it was furious, for some reason Wright didn't answer the door, forcing Max to get out of his seat.

"Sorry but there's no 'Nick' that I know of—woah…bombshell…" Max stared blankly at the girl who's been knocking on the door for the past couple of minutes.

She was a petite girl about his age, possibly a year or two older than him; while she did have a smaller frame than he imagined, she did fill out in all the right places, a lot actually. And she was wrapped up so snugly in that purple and white kimono, a prayer bead necklace with half of a yin-yang carving at the center. Her black hair was tied up in an attractive bun, while she appeared to be a hippie to most; Max recognized her clothes and instantly blushed like a moron as he eyed her over.

"Whaat? Bomb? WHERE? Shouldn't we duck and cover—or something!" The girl replied in shock as she just about jumped out of her pale but adorable skin.

"Uh…no…miss I meant you're uh, um, Uncle—a little help here?" Max was almost too busy taking a gander at her healthy cleavage to sort out what she was rambling about.

"See? I told you you'd like her, and Maya….calm down…he was talking about how you look. How did your training go…superbly I hope, it's actually been a bit lonely without you here." Phoenix was unfazed by Maya's confounding persona as usual, and he was relieved to see her come back unharmed.

"Ehehe sorry, old habits die hard I guess, as for my training it went really-wait a second….don't talk buster!" Maya stated as she gave Maxwell a glare, as if she suspected him of something dirty.

Max froze in his place for a moment, okay yes, his mind was in the gutter about certain assets of Maya's figure; but what made her want to order him not to talk. For a moment he was utterly confused, until he suddenly felt a little push at the back of his mind. He blinked after a few seconds and Maya tilted her head to the side curiously in response. They both spent the next few minutes exchanging small bits of body language, and it wasn't until the end of her examination that Max had a light turn on in his head. Of course, her clothes, the confusingly tiny gestures in utter silence, the peering into his mind, once he realized it he calmed down a little; not by much though. This girl was beautiful, in all the right ways, even if she was a bit too innocent for his liking; he had to have her at his side.

"I can't believe you'd work with my uncle…it's nice to finally meet you in person~ So…you're a fully-fledged spirit medium now; that's great! But…I'm nowhere near your level…" Max finally stated as he offered Maya a hand to shake.

Max's nervousness faded even more after she took his hand and shook it once; completing the little introduction they had a few seconds ago. He had to admit, she was an interesting one; not many honest to goodness Acolytes were around anymore. Even most of the Fay family from which his mother was born from were either dead or missing.

"Nick? You're his Nephew then…that's…." Maya paused in thought for a moment. "Neat! And—don't be so glum cause your powers manifested in an unusual way. I think they may suit you better in the job you've taken up~" She finished with an honest smile on her face as she messed with his hair a little, in an attempt to cheer him up.

"Can one of you two please explain….WHAT THE HECK THAT WAS? In case you both forgot I'm not a spirit medium or even a psychic, that's kind of unfair to leave me out. And what does she mean 'they manifested in an unusual way'?" Wright snapped out of nowhere in confusion the second he noticed them not actually introducing themselves to eachother.

Max couldn't help but sigh a little; he really didn't like talking about his abilities unless it was absolutely important. It was a long and boring explanation about how he was even connected to the Fay family, and what exactly he used his extra sensory perception for. There was no doubt about Uncle Wright scolding him for his failures in the courtroom, since it was partially because of those senses. Although that left Max feeling a little relieved, even though his uncle had been some troublesome cases he was still good old fashioned Phoenix Wright.

"So you see uncle, it's kind of an Acolyte thing…you probably wouldn't understand." Max finished off his explanation with a little bit of sarcasm, though the whole discussion seemed a bit drawn out.

"Why do I feel like I'd be even more confused if you explained everything about those gestures and being a spirit medium to me…" Wright moaned in defeat as he browsed through the court record of the first case he lost in a long time.

"Hehe-it's okay Nick…I'm sure you'll understand some day…just not right now! Anyway, what are you standing around here for?" Maya questioned with an unusual amount of seriousness in her tone of voice.

"Well….this _is_ my office Maya; and we close at ten pm so…." Wright uttered in frustration, Maya hadn't changed one bit, and that's what he was worried about.

"No, that's not what I meant—burgers dummy…you set us up on a date so why don't you make a couple of burgers, or dumplings, or something! Me and Maxwell have some talking to do~" Maya chimed playfully as she gave him her serious face, though throwing her arms down at her side and puffing her cheeks out seemed a bit immature at this age.

Well there really was no objecting to Maya when she was serious, even Max could tell that right off the bat; this girl wasn't just simple, she kind of lived in her own little world. When Wright went out of the office he finally had the nerve to talk to her more casually, they discussed simple things, favorite foods, favorite authors; the usual first date stuff. They had a lot of things in common, just not all the things Max expected, and just when the conversation seemed to end; he noticed some pages wrapped in a paper binder labeled screenplay.

"Hmm…I didn't know Uncle Wright was into novel writing…" Max thought aloud as he got up from the couch and started to walk over to it.

"Eep! D—don't touch t-that, it's private property!" Maya darted over to the desk so fast she may as well have teleported and snatched the screenplay up from the desk. "Listen, I like you and all, but we just met and besides, it's not finished anyway…." She finished with an almost threatening tone while she hid it behind her back.

"Aww come on, you said in the web-chat at Acolyte socialite website that you were nearly done with it. And that was about a month ago, moreover you also know how much I love a good mystery movie~" Max chirped with a big grin on his face, he was half curious about why she was so adamant about keeping it secret.

"No, no, no~ Sorry Maxie-kun but it is private, 'cause a famous director is looking at the unfinished script as we speak. It's my big chance to help produce a real, live movie, so…" Maya paused and put the screenplay securely in one of the desk drawers, locking it afterward. "It is P-R-I-V-A-T-E~" She finished with a face even more stern than her tone of voice.

Max was absolutely dumbfounded, and somewhat entertained at how quickly Maya could change moods; it was really something to admire. He even wished that he was half as innocent as she was, at least then he wouldn't have his mind in the gutter all the time. Unfortunately he was an inexperienced teen in a slightly grown up body; forever doomed to be ruled by his hormones. At this point he half-wondered what on earth could be in the movie script, maybe he could press her for details some other time; figuratively speaking of course. Once their date was through it was time for Max to return to his hotel room across the way, the Gatewater Hotel had quite a history, and it was pure luck that he happened to be staying in a particular room for the duration of his internship. Tomorrow was his last chance on his current case, they had caught the criminal, now he had to try and prove that they were framed.

May 24th: 1:00 PM District Court Defendant Lobby #2

"That's it….I'm done, it's back to law-school for me…I can't handle the pressure…" Max moaned in disappointment as he watched his client get dragged away and off to prison.

"I don't understand Max…you seemed pretty calm back there; it's just inexperience that's all." Wright's tone was a little glum too, though who could blame him; his nephew was a genius in school, so why did he fail so hard at the real deal?

"Uncle, you don't get it do you—I have the power to see peoples inner souls! Not just the people next to me, the judge, the audience, even the Prosecutor…it's horrible…." Max snapped back sharply as he sat down on the couch. "I can see what they're thinking, how they really feel, I felt like I was going to vomit the whole time with so many voices in my head." He explained crossing his arms over his stomach, he actually did feel sick, because he couldn't feel anything from his client.

"People's inner souls?" Maya questioned curiously as she tilted her head to the side. "I've never heard of ESP quite like that before…how's it work?~" Maya asked cheerfully in an effort to lighten his mood a little and change the subject so he wasn't focused on the case.

Max almost jumped out of his skin when she asked him, and blushed immediately; she was so sweet, just her voice seemed to make him feel better. Was it love or something to do with her powers; he didn't know for sure. He knew his uncle could be a bit dense once in a while, so he thought carefully about his answer; he wanted to make sure quite a few people could understand why it drove him into a fetal position sometimes. After humming in thought for what seemed like five minutes, Max finally came up with an explanation that would be easy to understand.

"Okay, got it! Let's see…have you ever felt a voice in your head that sounds exactly like you? You know, it sometimes says stuff like "shit…I'm so nervous" or maybe "wow, he's cute…what do I say to him" etcetera? Well…" He paused and scratched the back of his head a little nervously. "Imagine if that voice was a copy of you; that acted independently without you knowing. Now imagine being able to see that other you-and being able to see how everyone really feels in the same way." He finished with a light sigh of relief, something about explaining his power did help him relax somewhat.

"So let me get this straight, essentially you can see people's conscience—and sometimes you see everyone's conscience at once and your brain kinda overloads?" Wright stated as he rubbed his chin in a pondering manor, hoping to hide his inner self as best he could.

Wright's conscience: Okay, that _still_ makes no sense, but I kinda understand what he meant by pressure.

"No, I suppose it doesn't make any sense to a normal person, but then again I'm not normal am I uncle~" Max chimed with a chuckle, and here he thought the great Phoenix Wright had nerves of steel all the time.

"Urk! Don't peep on my inner thoughts like that, I mean come on, it's like…an invasion of privacy or something!" Wright protested in surprise once he realized what Max was talking about.

Max had to explain every little detail once more when Maya kept coming up with new questions, in the end he'd totally forgotten about the case; well, at least he'd gotten over his sulking attitude. There were many other things he could sense besides someone's conscience, like their heart rate, or their temperature, simple things that weren't very significant. At least when it came to tearing testimonies and false evidence to shreds; it was odd how discussing something he didn't like talking about actually relieved him somehow, of course it was ruined when he heard a familiar laugh on the way out of the court offices.

"Sh Sh Sh….well well…now I've heard everything, no wonder you're so adamant about not telling folks your last name Maxwell! If people found out, they'd label you as a freak." The cold, twisted laugh came from an all too familiar person.

It was the originally flat-chested she-devil, Elise Dee Edgeworth; and she was wearing her usual blood red lawyers uniform, she was a twenty three years old. With her reputation in law-school, she certainly knew her father's tricks, and what made it worse was she had many tricks of her own. Most people that knew her would describe her as either the spawn of Satan, or Edgeworth's evil clone, which was just as bad. Max's face was frozen when her eyes met his, this girl knew something about him; no doubt she intended to blackmail him sooner or later.

"Hmm…that laugh sounds familiar…where have I heard something like that before? Ack! Don't tell me, you're Edgeworth's…" Wright knew Edgeworth somewhat decently, but the guy never talked about his personal life.

"Oh my, is it really you; I've heard so much about you from father Mister Wright! You know, I almost went to school to become a defense attorney, but then I read about how much fun the other side is. Maxie-kun, you may have beaten me once out of the five times we faced eachother in school; but now the kid gloves are off, and I intend to send you running back to your dorm with your tail between your legs. I'll be handling all of my father's cases while he's away on vacation—tata for now darlings." Elis stated in a sarcastic tone that stung the heart, before strutting out of the courtroom.

Max barely managed to regain his composure, right as the evil woman left; he couldn't help but chuckle when he noticed that Maya practically had steam coming out of her ears. It was obvious why, not many people just insulted Wright without a real reason, Elise had a reason; she was the daughter of Miles. Both Wright and Max got a good laugh at how the girl flaunted what daddy bought her over dinner that evening, Maya eventually stopped asking questions about Elis, and everything was returning to some form of normality. Unfortunately Max couldn't shake the unnerving feeling that normality at this point was a luxury, not a right. After all, the spirits gave him the same dream that awoke him two days ago, only this time it had a little more detail; but what did the judge declaring someone guilty have to do with anything?

June 5th : 8:45 AM: Gatewater Hotel-Maxwell's room.

It had been kind of rough for Maxwell; he thought that being a defense lawyer would be a walk in the park just like it was in school. Unfortunately he didn't predict the pressure his ability would put on him in a real courtroom; with so many people focused on the same thing, it was hard to ignore the many voices of the members of the court. When he explained to his uncle that he just didn't feel right defending people he barely knew, Maya seemed to get a little burst of excitement. He could only imagine what radical idea for convincing him that he was fit to be a lawyer, especially with his ESP working the way it did. He was just finishing up getting ready for work when the phone rang, and a lovely voice was on the other end.

"Woah, woah, woah! For Christ's sake Maya slow down, what is it that's got you more freaked out than usual…" Max could barely understand a word with Maya speaking through her distraught tone. "Wait—w-w-whaaaaaaatttt?! There's no way in hell he'd do something like that, yeah, okay I'll be down there in a bit!" Max just about had a heart attack when Maya finally explained what had her so shook up.

Max was on his way down to the visitors center when he crossed paths with a man he'd met only briefly during his short time in Japan. Detective Gumshoe, the well-built man wearing his brown coat and hat seemed really intimidated by her; although it had nothing to do with current events, he figured he'd make note of it anyway. He also made note that it seemed like Gumshoe was accepting some form of payment from her. His mind was racing with too many questions, who, what, why, and how, among many others.

June 5th : 9:15 AM Visitor's Center Room 5

"Oh great, you're here too…so, come to laugh at your great hero too?" Wright asked with a sigh as he watched Maya drag Max over to the visitor's chair.

"Tell him Max, tell Nick that he's not a villain! He's been claiming that he was guilty the whole morning." Maya snapped with a far more furious tone of voice than usual; it was hard to believe she was balling her heart out a few seconds ago.

Max was simply stunned; the great and invincible Phoenix Wright got caught murdering someone? It seemed impossible to imagine, and as he scanned the somewhat comfortable-looking prison room, he noticed something was a little off. On the back wall there was an extra security camera, he couldn't really figure out why it was suspicious to him, but he took note of it anyway. The security camera wasn't the only thing that was off; Wright looked a little dazed himself. Was he tired from all the questioning, or maybe he didn't get any sleep last night? Whatever the cause, it really irritated him to see his good-spirited uncle in a place like this.

"Uncle…Maya says you've been here since 10:00 last night; and she's been here a few hours too from what she said on the phone…tell me what happened." Max stated with a sigh as he eyed Wright over carefully, paying close attention to his face and eyes.

"I'll tell you the same thing I told Gumshoe, the police department, and Maya…I shot a man…in cold blood. I used my own pistol to do so, and I acted on instinct too, I even watched the way he fell to the ground." Wright responded with his tone growing more serious by the minute.

Wright's conscience: No! Idiot, what are you saying; you're only making it worse on yourself!

Max paused in thought for a moment, now that was a little interesting; Wrights conscience didn't seem like it was worried about the killing, moreover Wright wasn't the kind of person who could say they shot someone in such a serious way. Although his mother told him sometimes people's spirits lead them astray, Max chose to take this more seriously than Maya was.

"Uncle, I barely understand what's happening, especially with how Maya was explaining things in such a rush. When is the Trial…and…do you have a defense attorney…" Max asked as he tried to calm his nerves, something just didn't sit right in him with how Wright talked about what he'd done.

"My trial is in two hours Max, and nobody will take my case, I was going to defend myself like last time; but they won't let me play that card this time around. The single piece of evidence is real evidence, and Elis is prosecuting…" Wright responded with a sigh as he crossed his arms underneath the counter.

"Two hours! Good grief…Japan's court system sure is different from the US court. Uncle…can you tell me a bit more about "last time"?" Max questioned as he cocked an eyebrow, so his uncle had been accused of murder once before?

Wright didn't explain everything about the case, but apparently some guy named Red White had set things up so that he would get framed for the death of his mentor Mia Fay. It didn't seem to have any connection to current events, but Maxwell added the case titled Turnabout Sisters to his court record regardless. His only excuse for doing so being that he had a very tiny hunch about this case, there had to be something in there he could use later.

"So…now you know, what are you going to do; I know you're only here for an internship and all but…" Maya asked curiously with a grim look on her face, which made Wright's face look even more hopeless.

"Uncle! Let _me_ be your defense attorney! I won't take no for an answer!" Max shouted energetically as he stood to his feet and slammed his hands on the counter.

"Max, be realistic here…didn't you _just_ get out of Law School, didn't you fail your first real trial? And this isn't any crime; it's a murder case and a member of your family is the criminal." Wright questioned with a raised eyebrow as he tilted his head to the side a little.

Maya's Conscience: Yay, do it Max, show your uncle you got guts!

"Uncle, I don't think I can do this, no…I _know_ I can—something's fishy about this whole thing. I don't care if the Prosecutor is god himself, I know you're innocent." Max snapped sharply with fire in his eyes as he flashed his lawyer's badge at his Uncle.

"But I really did shoot—well…fine, if you think you can prove it I guess you have a license to try." Wright had to admit, it took him back to his early years, and he remembered saying basically the same thing to Edgeworth once.

June 5th 11:15 AM : Court Room #1

Maxwell couldn't wait for his chance to prove to his Uncle and his father that he wasn't useless, well more so his father than his Uncle. The old man had told him he'd ship him back to law school if he failed another case, and he wasn't about to waste four more years re-learning everything. The court room was as basic as it could get, the only thing missing was jury seating, but Wright had explained that there was no jury in Japanese court proceedings until the case was taken to a higher level of court. As the members of the court filed in and the judge walked up to his stand, Max was already a little nervous.

"Ladies and gentlemen, today we will begin the trial of Phoenix Wright; for the murder of Prosecutor Miles Edgeworth. Is the defense ready?" The judge stated in a calm tone, Max was expecting the judge to be young, not some old man with no hair.

"Y-yes your Honor, I practiced a lot back in law school…" Max stuttered as he nervously scratched the back of his head.

"I see, let us hope for your uncle's sake you're doing the right thing…is the prosecution ready?" The Judge responded with the same calm tone that he always used.

"The Prosecution is ready~" Elis chimed back as she hugged her chest in a flirtatious way, which almost made Max lose it.

It was subtle, but things were already starting to pile up; some people's consciences were mocking him, while others were crossing their arms and calling him mad, some were even saying that there was no reason for Wright to be innocent because of previous charges. True the charges were proven false in the end, but it left an impression on a lot of people. Max's legs almost started shaking with so many negative thoughts piling up, all of them were directed at either him or his uncle too, which made it even worse.

"I see, so both the defense and prosecution are prepared, very well; the prosecution will now make their opening statement." The judge stated after a few seconds, which seemed like minutes to Max.

"Esteemed members of the court, my father Miles Edgeworth has been killed by Phoenix Wright, we have two witness accounts; and we have legitimate evidence that he did it. Therefore I see no point in taking this man to court; even the accused claims that he's guilty." Elis stated with a more serious tone as she shrugged her shoulders a little, she seemed way too confident this time.

"I will be the judge of that Miss Elis, now, call your first witness to the stand." The judge responded coldly, if he'd learned anything there was always a reason when it involved Wright.

Max figured it would be the good detective Gumshoe right off the bat, which made something else seem off; however he couldn't play that card just yet, there was still the cross-examination of his testimony. It would be interesting to see what lines Elis had fed him, if any lines were given at all.

"The Witness will state their name and profession." The judge stated, as he nodded toward the prosecution.

"Right, I'm sure most of ya know by now; the names Gumshoe, Dick Gumshoe, I'm in charge of Homicides and Murders down at the precinct." Gumshoe responded, his honesty showed in his eyes, but his slightly heavy breathing showed how nervous he was.

Now something was a little off about how Gumshoe introduced himself to the court, didn't witnesses usually state their first name? Max was pretty sure he'd heard that kind of introduction in a spy movie somewhere, however that observation wasn't really needed; and the inner thoughts of everyone in court were starting to pile up in his head again. It was at about this point when he would lose his cool, but this time he had an idea that would shut everyone's inner self up for a while. He started to get a little more focused when the judge ordered Gumshoe to start his testimony, so hopefully it would work.

"Hold it!"

"Hey! Pall, what's the deal pressing me for details before I even start my dang testimony?" Gumshoe snapped brashly, obviously caught off guard by Max's interruption.

"Well, it's just, your first name is Dick….and you're a Detective correct?" Max asked as he rubbed his chin in a pondering way.

"Yeah Pal! What of it, practically everyone in this courtroom knows that." Gumshoe responded in frustration, giving him a sharp glare.

"So….wouldn't that make you a…. "private" detective~" Max chimed with a goofy grin and a slight chuckle.

It wasn't just Gumshoe that was shocked, Wright, Maya, the ten or fifteen people in the audience, Elis, and even the hard and fast judge were caught off guard. Max couldn't believe his luck; it was like nobody had ever thought to tell a joke in court. Okay, it was more of a silly name pun than a joke, while the rest of the court was silenced, including their inner selves, Gumshoe's inner self was actually chuckling a little. It was a bit unusual, though it relieved Max a little bit to know at least someone thought it was funny.

"Heh…good one pal, yeah, I've been half-wondering when somebody would be stupid enough to make that kind of pun in court whenever I got called up." Gumshoe uttered sarcastically, the composure of both his physical and spiritual form quickly returned to normal afterward.

"Ahem! Um….the defense will refrain from taking shots at witness's names in the future. Now, please testify to the court what you saw." The judge commented as he tapped the gavel lightly on the desk, there really wasn't much need to call for order since everyone was silent.

Wright's Conscience: Ah, I get it, not only did he get everyone's inner souls to quiet down; he got Gumshoe to be a little more trusting of him. Nice shot Max…not that it'll help…

"Don't be so sure Uncle…the key to winning any battle, especially in court is knowing when to strike the first blow." Max whispered with a little more confidence than even he expected, if only Wright's conscience didn't spoil the brief moment of victory.

Was Max's first attack, figuratively speaking of course, a significant one, or did Elis have even a trained Detective in her iron grip. Max certainly wouldn't count that out, considering Edgeworth was her father. It was true, the kid gloves were off this time, and the defendant was a relative, who would be put in jail or worse if he failed. Four losses among one victory against this particular prosecutor certainly weren't good odds, but then, if Wright could narrowly escape a murder conviction once, he could possibly do it again!


	2. Maya, and Suspicion

June 5th : 11:25 PM Court Room #1

Even with all of the inner souls within the court were silent, Max still felt pretty tense; why would he not be? His uncle, a noble and just man who he'd only met two or three times in his life, most of which were at ages too young to really remember was convicted of murdering a rival; moreover, he had blindly chosen to defend his uncle in court and pleaded not guilty. To tell the truth, what worried him more was what might happen if he was proven wrong; that was why he had to stay strong.

"Alright, if we can avoid any further silly puns…mister Gumshoe…your Testimony…" The judge repeated himself once more for good measure, giving Max a watchful glare.

"On it your honor!" Gumshoe replied nervously, just as he was receiving glares of his own, from Elis of course. "I didn't believe it at first…but when I got a call saying that it looked like Wright had murdered someone my heart skipped a beat. "Wright is not that kind of man who'd do something like that" I thought, but I rushed to the scene of the crime. And wouldn't ya know it, I saw Edgeworth deadpanned on the ground, Wright was standing next to the body; he was looking up toward one of the windows in the Gatewater Hotel." Gumshoe paused for a moment and crossed his arms. "I don't know what was goin on in his head, but he looked like he was deep in thought about somethin he'd seen recently…or maybe he was rememberin something." Gumshoe finished with a light sigh as he shook his head once to the judge.

"The defense may now cross-examine the witness…" The judge stated as he stroked his beard in a pondering way, almost as if he didn't believe it himself.

-Cross Examination: The Scene of the Crime-

"I didn't believe it at first…."

"But when I got a call saying that it looked like Wright had murdered someone, my heart skipped a beat."

"Wright is not that kind of man who'd do something like that" I thought."

"Hold It!" Max felt like he'd jumped the gun a little, but he wanted to confirm about his uncle.

"Yeah, what….what's up pall? You look kind of confused…." Gumshoe responded with a somewhat surprised look on his face.

"Nothing's wrong with the Testimony thus far….it's just…something intrigues me." Max paused as he adjusted his glasses, pushing them higher up on the bridge of his nose. "I'm afraid I don't know Uncle Wright that well, so please, even though it has nothing to do with the case. What did you mean when you said 'not that kind of man' could commit murder?" Max finished with an honest grin as he tilted his head to the side a bit.

"Oh, that's why I never seen ya at Wright's office then! Let's see, Wright…yeah, he's a real stand-up guy; he defends the innocent even when the case seems hopeless. He's a freedom fighter, maybe a little too excitable sometimes, but he always means well. We've been buds since a few years ago, I feel real safe around em cause even I can tell there isn't a violent bone in his body." Gumshoe explained with a boldness that made Wright seem a little nervous.

"I see, interesting-please continue your testimony…" Max stated kindly, nodding his head in confirmation; that sure sounded like Wright, just like how his dad kept talking about him.

Wright's Conscience: Max! Why ask something that has nothing to do with the case in the middle of a cross-examination!

"And wouldn't ya know it, I saw Edgeworth deadpanned on the ground, Wright was standing next to the body; he was looking at a window in the Gatewater Hotel."

"Hold It!" Maxwell knew Elis had ammo to foil every question; so he figured he'd play it safe. "So Edgeworth was already dead when you got there, how was he killed-also, did you see the murder weapon at the scene? Or even in the hands of the accused? How about the body, were there any clues?" He asked with a raised brow, surely there had to be some important evidence there.

"Hey, Pal! One stinkin question at a time okay, or I can't give a straight answer. Anyway…" Gumshoe shouted with a little bit of frustration showing in his tone. "Yeah, Edgie was dead; as for the weapon, and all that other stuff… here ya go…" Gumshoe stated as he showed the weapon to the courtroom.

It was a Colt 42 Revolver with a redwood grip; the steel on it was polished quite a bit, but the grip was still dirty from someone holding it. Something that looked like a catch phrase from a spy film was engraved on the back of the grip; it read, one bullet, one chance. Gumshoe also presented the bullet found in the body at the time of investigation as evidence, sure enough, the ballistic markings on the bullet matched the gun. Though something did seem off, Max couldn't quite put the pieces together, not without more decisive evidence. Although there was something curious about Gumshoe's evidence, and that might've been something interesting that could prove his case.

"Hmmm….alright, I'm not sure I'm satisfied with this evidence…" Max stated seriously as he folded his arms. "In America, a bullet and matching gun, along with a single witness account isn't enough. Now Gumshoe, why didn't you submit the most important evidence to the court?" Max shot a harsh glare as he spoke.

"Ehehe…."most important evidence" sorry pal, I'm not sure I follow…" Gumshoe answered bashfully with his usual, cheeky grin on his face.

"The autopsy of the victim of course, oh, and while I'm at it…any _incriminating_ fingerprints found on the murder weapon!" Max snapped with a shake of his head, honestly, did Elis think she could get by with just that?

"Shi Shi Shi….silly Maxwell, you're just like your Uncle….I guess the Wright name is cursed with such silly badgering of witnesses." Elis chimed playfully as she leaned forward on her desk and waved her finger in a taunting motion.

"That laugh….don't tell me….." Max moaned in annoyance, why did he feel like he had a rock in his stomach all of the sudden.

"Go ahead mister Gumshoe~ Tell the court why you haven't submitted those all important things as evidence yet~" Elis added in response to Max's annoyed reaction to her little chuckle.

"Hehe oh yeah, I forgot—we got the call at about 12:00 last night, and we didn't get done questioning the witnesses and accused for quite a while. So, as a result, those two reports aren't finished yet; I'm done with using outdated autopsies and shoddy evidence examination." Gumshoe paused and put his hand on the desk. "So if you don't mind, I believe my testimony is _bullet_-proof." He finished with frustration clearly showing in his tone.

Gumshoe's Conscience: C-mon kid, you're a Wright….please catch it! I know I'm not supposed to take sides…but…

Now that was certainly something curious, very rarely did a person's conscience and spirit connect in such an unusual way. Maxwell did believe that the testimony was true; however Gumshoe seemed to be emphasizing something about bullets all of a sudden. He couldn't help but chuckle a little, the good detective was a bud of his uncle's after all. It was a pretty big puzzle though, Max felt like he was staring at one piece of a five thousand piece jigsaw puzzle trying to piece together Gumshoe's hint.

"Alright then, I guess I'm done questioning the good Detective right now…" Max stated playfully as he nodded toward the judge.

Elis couldn't believe what she was seeing, a Wright that didn't press on every fact, trying to claw the truth out of even the smallest hole. It was madness, even in school Max was always pressing for details every chance he got, that's why he failed his first trial.

"O—Objection!"

"Objection to what…..? I don't have an issue with this testimony miss Elis…so I'm done questioning the detective." Max responded with a somewhat goofy grin on his face.

"Y-you don't see _any_ contradictions in the testimony? You don't want to question why a man "without a violent bone in his body" would commit murder?" Elis questioned in the most calm tone she could muster.

"Nope…your honor, I do believe the Prosecutor has just willingly given us some intriguing details about the accused. What do you propose we do about that?" Max responded with a slight chuckle, oh yes, he never thought to try reverse psychology on her. And yet, somehow without meaning to he'd done so, and got another piece of the puzzle.

"Hmm…intriguing indeed…" The judge noted with a bemused look on his face, stroking his beard in thought once or twice before continuing. "Seeing as proper evidence is yet to be submitted; and the defense obviously hasn't changed their position. The court will postpone the trial for one day, this court is adjourned." The judge finished as he swung down his gavel.

One day, that was hardly enough time for a proper investigation to take place; however from what he'd heard from his uncle a lot of the time the lawyers did most of the investigation. Well they technically had a day and a half, but that was beside the point.

June 5th : 3:45 PM Wright and Co Law Offices

In the end, the only thing Max could do for his uncle was stall for time; and it was only for a single day. Just what kind of investigation can be completed in that short window of opportunity, a maddening one to be sure! He felt bad that Uncle Wright had to be dragged back to the detention center like a real criminal, but oh well; maybe it would give the guy some experience in some way.

"Phew! I can't believe you did it…do you really think we can prove Nick innocent?" Maya stated in an exhausted, but relieved tone as she put a finger to her chin in thought.

"Dang…we only have one day Maya…that's not a lot of time…." Max moaned annoyed, how this girl stayed so perky even now was beyond him. "You're Uncle Wright's partner right, then you can look into something for me?" Max asked tilting his head to the side a little, half puzzled at how a sweet girl like her ever became his uncle's partner.

"Sure! If it's to prove Nick innocent I'll dig up anything I can~" Maya responded in excitement, she couldn't wait to see the look on everyone's face when Max found out the truth behind this case.

"I need you to call these people…" Max explained handing her a list of phone numbers from his old school. "Ask my old teachers anything you can about Edgeworth's kid. Just call it a hunch…" He finished with a sigh, he felt like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders.

"Okay, but what kind of things should I ask them then…?" Maya questioned in curiosity, stoping max from leaving the office.

"I don't know; just…think of some things that aren't too suspicious!" Max responded as he headed out of the office to do some personal investigations of his own.

June 5th 4:00 PM Max's Room Gatewater Hotel

Max had returned to his hotel room for a bit to take a quick shower, to calm his nerves before he decided to investigate further. The clearing of the steam in the room was clearing his head as he got out of the shower and dried off; getting dressed in his uniform once more, because he wasn't off duty. He paced the floor trying to think about what he could do, after all he was just a freshly graduated kid from lawyer school.

"Okay…to prove uncle innocent I need…proof of who really did it, proof that uncle didn't do it, and a theory to tie it all together…I kinda need to know a lot about what happened at the scene of the crime before Gumshoe got there." Max mumbled to himself as he paced the floor of his room a few times, there were a lot of questions on his mind.

After a few minutes Max had come to one conclusion, he needed information; and a lot of it, which was good because he was kind of compulsive when it came to that sort of thing. There was something interesting about how Maya was so secretive about her movie script, it seemed highly unlikely, but it was the only lead he had. Without thinking about it he had decided to leave his room with his eyes lowered at the ground; he didn't make it that far down the hallway when he bumped into something, big, and soft.

"Please don't tell me this is what I think it is…" Max thought aloud, though it was slightly muffled by, from as far as he could tell an employee of the hotel's uniform.

"Tehehe, lost in thought are you mister Maxwell?~ Well you're cute, so I'll let it slide this time" It was a female voice, just wonderful; he'd unintentionally discovered what it felt like to have one's face smothered in breasts.

"Ack! I'm uh…s—sorry…hey…you checked me in right?" Max flushed as he backed away from the woman in surprise. "Wait…I'm cute…but you're like, smoking hot—I'm not worth your time!" He spat out in protest, though he tried to focus on her eyes, his attention was drawn to something else.

The woman was Canadian, she had to be; since she was at least a foot or so taller than him, while that alone was impressive; her assets were well, massive, he had to guess she needed custom made bras. The Gatewater hotel uniform for women was pretty much the same as the men's uniform, long, pink jeans and a fancy dress-shirt, which was also pink. He was sure the manager was perverted though, because the v neck went down a little too low for his liking.

"You know…girls don't always want a guy who's cooler than cool! Give me an anime and cartoon geek anyway, well…as long as he's somewhat cute. Hmm…so what were you so deep in thought about that you didn't notice my all-natural darlings hmm?~" The woman asked playfully giving him a somewhat sexual wink as she hugged her chest.

"All Natural?!" Max replied in shock before blushing even more, from that size he'd assumed they were artificial. "S—sorry, it's just uncle Wright is accused of murder…and I have no leads to go on; anyway…do you know anything about what went down last night?" He asked seriously, trying his best not to be distracted by how curb hugging her uniform was.

"Hehehehe~ it's okay, I don't mind a little "fun" once in a while as long as you know when to quit!" She chimed playfully patting Max on the head and messing his hair a little. "Hmm…last night…no, sorry I was off duty already…hmm; but you might want to ask that…._director_!" She finished with an innocent smile on her face.

Max's face couldn't be any more red when he tried to comprehend what she was implying using the word fun; now, he had about a million guesses, most of them not even remotely perverse as one might think. After all, even if he was easily distracted, he still had a strong respect for women, especially certain aspects. When she mentioned asking a director, a light-bulb went on in his head; suddenly he was flooded with theories about what could've happened last night.

"That's it; some director checked in the same day as me, I didn't notice who he was because _somebody_ was busy teasing me while I was trying to check in…" Max uttered with a small amount of hope in his eyes, there was a snowball's chance in hell, but it was still hope. "So…why is he here anyway, I mean this is kind of a three star place—I'd expect him to check into like a five star hotel or something." He admitted with a light sigh, for whatever reason he couldn't stay angry at this woman.

"Don't you know, that director only films on-location, and he brought tons of recording equipment with him! He said he was filming a spy movie in this very town, he was even filming one of the scenes last night~ exciting right?" The woman asked playfully, completely ignoring his comment about teasing him; after all, it was more flirting than teasing him.

Max paused in thought when the woman answered him with a straight face for once, that would explain all the recording equipment the man brought with him; the room service lady had an alibi so she couldn't have done anything, not related to the murder at least. Once his blood temperature and his hormone system was a little calmer he took a deep breath.

"Uh…hey…I don't wanna get you in trouble with your boss but-mmph!" Max was cut off when she shoved his face into her so-called little darlings again.

"I know, you're a Lawyer and you want to question that director, fine…take a copy of his key card. Oh…and I left an extra room key, heh~ I kinda live here. Judging by where you're poking me I bet you can guess where the other card key goes to." She chimed temptingly slipping the card keys into his hands without anything else going on.

With that she patted him on the head once and pushed him away softly, and then she turned around to return to her duties. Max could barely maintain a serious composure around this one, but then, she was pretty nice to him; offering a key to her room and all. He couldn't imagine what sort of plans she had, well he did have some ideas.

"No! I can't think about those sort of things now…" Max thought aloud quietly before taking a few deep breaths to calm down. "Wait! Uh…w…what's your name…miss?" He called down the hallway, hoping she would answer.

"It's Meloney~ Meloney Angela! Drop by later and we'll play some Street Fighter or somethin kay?~" Meloney shouted back before she returned to her work.

Well, if the first part of her response didn't make him do a faceplant, the second half of her answer sure did! Seriously, all that teasing and she offers Street Fighter, this was one reason Max tried to stay away from girls in school. Though, at least she had an innocent idea of fun; with the way she was treating him it sounded like she was offering something entirely different, that was the last time he judged a woman by how she acted, let alone how she looked.

"Heh, Meloney…I guess her parents knew she'd be 'gifted' wait—the director was filming a scene in the spy movie last night…maybe…" Max paused as he recovered from his brief loss of composure, there were two places he wanted to check out. "It's crazy, too crazy….but I have to make sure!" He thought aloud, sticking Meloney's card key into his wallet as he darted toward the director's room.

Ironically, the director's room was three windows down from his own room; if the movie director was filming had a murder scene in it. Well, there wasn't enough evidence to support that theory just yet; when he used the card key, it worked! He knocked first of course, but nobody answered, when he went into the room he stared blankly at it. The hotel room looked like a mini studio; it had the lights, the cameras, even a director's chair! All that among the traditional stuff you see in a three star, one person bedroom.

"Well…he doesn't seem to be here; I should look around for clues." Max thought aloud as he began to cautiously examine things around the room.

Max took about ten minutes looking around the room, he didn't find anything that would link the director to the crime at all. He checked the makeshift studio camera, it was already open; and it missed a VHS tape to record the footage on. He then examined some of the props, one of which was a revolver much like the one presented to the court as evidence. Near the director's chair, he found a bullet with some dried blood on it, before he got his hopes up, it was a blank. Upon further snooping around, he found what looked like the title page to a script.

"Hmm… "Two Wrights; One Wrong" it certainly _sounds_ like a spy movie hmm…did they make a typo maybe?" Max figured he wouldn't find anything else useful in this room, so he added the bullet to the court record, and the title page of the script, just for good measure.

For now, this was all he could do without seeming too suspicious; after all he'd only borrowed the room key for a moment and she gave it to him willingly. The next place Max inspected was the alleyway between the Gatewater and Wright and Co Law offices. The entire scene looked kind of average, cops snooping about and Gumshoe throwing orders around. With a little bit of clever wording he did manage to get the good detective to let him take a peek at the scene of the crime. The first thing he did was stand near the outline of Edgeworth's body that they had drawn, and stood the way both his uncle and Gumshoe had reported.

"Yo Pal, it's pretty bold of you to defend your uncle, reminds me of when wright first started out and that charming Maya girl got in trouble~" Gumshoe stated when he was through snooping around. "Whacha doin standin out here like you did it anyway?" He questioned in curiosity as he watched max imitate holding a gun at his side, glaring toward the hotel at the same angle that he remembered seeing Wright look at it.

"Back-tracking, I need to know why Uncle would shoot somebody, so I'm trying to get in the mindset he was in when he committed the so called crime…" Max explained with an unusually serious tone, something interesting did hit him, he could see his hotel room from this angle.

All of a sudden he was struck with the sudden urge to defend himself from an assault, from who or what, Max couldn't place it; but it wasn't his uncle. It felt like his spirit was connecting to that of the victim; shortly after the urge struck him he faced toward his uncle's office, then slowly walked a bit away from where the body mark was and knelt down, posing with his imaginary gun in an unusual way.

"I feel….struggle, there was a conflict here…there's tons of negative impulses…freaky…" Max was thinking aloud at this point, not really caring that Gumshoe was watching. "It wasn't just a random act of anger, uncle was acting on instinct; his instinct to defend the helpless…intriguing." It was an unusual way to use his ability to sense someone's inner spirit.

"Huh-so, you got powers like that Maya girl does right, can't say I understand what you're doin. But I guess you got some answers from that look of satisfaction in your eyes!" Gumshoe stated nervously as he patted Max on the back. "That pose you were doing, it's like that spy from that movie series~" He noted with a goofy grin on his face, though he seemed a bit bashful to admit it.

"Two Wrights…one Wrong….it just doesn't make any sense, uncle would never—unless…eureka! Nah…too crazy, but then again…now that you've mentioned it Gumshoe, I gotta take a quick look around Uncle's office one more time." Max chimed with excitement as he returned to his usual composure and pushed his glasses up on the bridge of his nose once more.

As excited as he was, Max's heart was stung with confusion over one very minor detail. It was the most important detail in the entire case, if Wright didn't shoot Edgeworth, then who did? He still got this nagging feeling that his uncle did indeed fire a gun at someone, but from what he sensed at the scene of the crime it was starting to clear things up a little. Unfortunately he couldn't turn up any clues at his uncle's office; however he saw that the drawer that Maya stashed her movie script in was open, and that the script was partially sticking out from it. He knew he promised he wouldn't ask, still, Max had a chance to at least read the title.

"H-hey! Put that down right now, I told you it's private!" Maya shouted as she pretty much instantly appeared next to the desk to swipe the script from him again.

"But Maya…I wasn't…" Max paused, he thought about an excuse almost instantly. "But that script might be a valuable piece of evidence!" Okay, so he was bluffing, but as adamant as Maya was he was dying to know what it was.

"How did you—uh…" Maya paused for a few moments and hid the script behind her back. "I mean—fine, if you really think it'll help Nick out of trouble. But I'm still not letting anyone besides a certain director read it. I mean, he's not even finished with the filming; can't have the tabloids spoiling the movie beforehand you know." She finished with a surprisingly confident expression on her face, almost as if she was hiding something.

Interesting, that director had come up in a discussion twice in the same day, within a few hours even; either he'd come up with a lead or it was pure coincidence. Regardless of the situation, Max had a pretty good theory on who Elis was going to call as the witness, well one theory and one certainty. Wanting to change the subject a little, he decided to ask Maya if she'd dug up any decent dirt on Elis; anything he could use in the case, no matter how small could be the difference between his uncle's freedom and ten years in prison, or worse.

"Wait-she's a member of _that_ movie club too, oh yeah, now I've got some ammo!" Max chimed once Maya finished explaining things to him, her other findings were less than informative.

"Max…you're not planning on blackmailing her for answers…." Maya stated coldly giving him a disapproving glare, it was almost enough to make him want to move to the corner of the room.

"Me, ha, no way Maya—still; Elis being a member means I have one more piece to this theory I have~" Max responded with a slight chuckle, hoping she wouldn't press him further about the club since it was a little embarrassing at times to be a member.

"Is that the steel samurai theme as a ringtone…" Maya pointed out when Max's cell phone started to ring before she had a chance to ask him about joining the club.

"Yeah! I love old kid shows, or old shows in general really with crazy plots~ what of it?" Max moaned a little annoyed as he answered the phone, his face turned beat red when he heard the voice on the other side. "A-angel…um…h-hi, why do you have my cell number?" Embarrassing enough that Maya heard his ring tone, but the chick from the Gatewater had called.

"I got curious about you so I thought I'd check out your room~" Meloney responded, though her voice was a little muffled on the phone.

"How did you—oh right, you work there…need I ask why you thought to check my room?" Max uttered as he tried to ignore Maya's seething glare.

"You never know what you learn about people from their belongings, I just called cause there's a movie marathon by that director on tv tonight, I thought you'd might want to come to my room and watch! You know, the one that rude Prosecutor chick was gonna call as a witness in the trial tomorrow?" Meloney chimed playfully with the sound of her actually putting things back in a suitcase could be heard slightly.

Even setting aside how infuriated Maya looked, it was actually more difficult for Max's mind to go to the gutter talking to Meloney; there was something so innocent about it. What she'd mentioned caught his attention, not just the fact that it was his favorite director, but that a certain prosecutor planned on calling him as a witness. What kind of evil plan Elis was cooking up, he couldn't imagine; still, he was never one to turn down the company of a lonely woman, hopefully not the kind of lonely that came to his mind when he remembered her shoving his face in her chest.

"The director….that movie club—that's it! And Angel, please stop snooping around my room! Maya, I'll explain everything tomorrow so just uh…lock everything up okay?" Max responded nervously as he tried to avoid Maya's glaring, Christ only knew what she thought of their conversation just now.

"Fine! But Nick's in serious trouble, you'd better show tomorrow—and I wanna meet this girl sooner or later." Maya snapped harshly as she crossed her arms and turned away from him, obviously not approving of how flakey Max was behaving.

"My virginity might be in trouble too ya know; I just hope she doesn't have anything besides movies planned…" Max thought aloud with heavy sarcasm as he started to leave the office, he then paused for a moment. "Look, it'll all make sense tomorrow, I swear. And don't worry-Nick is innocent, and I'll go to prison myself before I'm proven wrong!" Max put a hand on her shoulder as he finished his comeback and then bolted off to meet the one hot girl in the world actually interested in him.

_Hehe~ so you think you've got it all figured out hmm; well, let's hope so! I can't wait to watch you work for real~_ Maya thought with a somewhat mischievous smile as she watched Max leave the building.

Maya had gotten things to go this far, she may as well cut poor Max a little bit of slack. After all, she knew he couldn't work his best unless he truly cared about his client's case, moreover the client themselves. It would be a harsh lesson, and a really big shock to everyone, especially Nick; actually, he had a very interesting part in all this. Sometimes writers do like to improvise when sudden ideas come up after all.


	3. Turnabout Action Hero?

June 6'th: 11:20 PM Defendant Lobby #2

Max was in a rush getting ready the next day, after his long, surprisingly innocent night with that wonderfully blessed Meloney; now granted she did get a little quirky, but he was relieved that she really did have a movie marathon in mind. Of course, whenever she started getting clingy he had to humor her a little, now though he was more worried about Maya's wrath; his uncle's career and even his life were hanging by a thread today. If Max were to fail here, his uncle's life would be ruined, he would get sent back to law school; and Maya, poor Maya would be without a job.

"You're late! You almost missed the trial; do you know what happens when the defense attorney doesn't show?" Maya snapped in a wrathful tone as she crossed her arms and gave him a bitter glare.

"Hell hath no fury like that of an angry woman…" Max mumbled with sarcasm as he tried to ignore how serious she was taking his tardiness, he half felt bad for his poor uncle having to work with her.

"You know what's going to happen right, if you don't shape up Nick is going to go to prison, or worse; and to make things even more hopeless, he didn't even do it!" Maya stated with her nostrils flaring as she tried to remain calm.

"Yeah, yeah—I know all that already, look just cause things look bad doesn't mean we're gonna lose; think of how many tight spots uncle has been in before." Max stated with a sigh as he put a hand on her head to mess with her hair a little. "Trust me, I got this, I've got this big plan see; and it's going to prove once and for all that uncle is no murderer~" He chimed playfully hoping to cheer her up some, Maya looked odd enough when she was sad, but when she was angry it was kind of frightening.

The next few minutes were spent discussing quite a few things, namely a few of the cases that his father had solved. The Steel Samurai case in particular amused Max, even though he knew his uncle hated kids shows; the old man still took the job for Maya. To be honest, he had no plan, he was going to grit his teeth and bluff until the cows came home. Sometimes a bad poker face can become a windfall rather than a sign of misfortune.

When it was just about time to enter the courtroom though, Max was starting to feel a little anxious; he would have to face the cold, hard truth if he was proven wrong today. It wasn't just anxiety, he felt like he had a hundred pounds of lead on his back; before he could enter the courtroom after Maya and Wright, Max heard a familiar voice that he was hoping he wouldn't here until later.

"Maaaaaaaaaaxxxxxieee~ wait, wait, I got something for you!" It was Meloney, of all the times she could show up.

"Ugh…look, I get it, you wanna get in my pants; sorry but I'm not into that sort of—mph!" Max's protest was cut off by one of Meloney's special hugs.

"I know that Max, but you left something cool in my bedroom; it looked important so I thought you could use it to beat that mean old prosecutor today!" Meloney chimed playfully putting something soft and silky in his hands.

Max instantly recognized it, and his eyes beamed with hope as he stuffed the headband into his pocket. The headband itself was why he was up so late, he had no idea that his new friend was a member of that movie club too. It may have been his hormones, but this time he was sure, if he was going to fall in love he had to choose between Maya or Meloney; and his heart ached for both girls. He hadn't noticed it before, but Meloney cleaned up really nice, wearing an anime esque business girl's uniform; most likely in an attempt to excite a certain part of his anatomy, since it hugged her curves so tightly.

"Say…Meloney…if I…win this trial today…will you…" Max paused and flushed a little. "maybe, kinda….go out with me…" His whole head was beat red at this point, he'd never done this sort of thing before.

"Go out with you? But you're younger than me, and aren't you together with that adorable Maya?" Meloney questioned in confusion as she remembered him talking about it the other night.

"I'm not—well, it's just…I did get a blind date with her…but I think it'd be confusing if I dated a cousin." Max uttered nervously as he tried to focus on her eyes, they were almost as big and pretty as other assets.

"Heheh~ Max, I'm three years older than you! But you know what, you're the first guy who didn't beg for me to be in their pants at first glance!" She paused and folded her arms, humming in thought for a bit. "Fine, since you're into the same stuff…I'll do _more_ than go on a date with you, but only if you prove your uncle is innocent~" She responded giving him another special hug, oh how she loved teasing the cute ones who'd just grin and bear it. "Wait…._cousin_?" Meloney stated in shock after she thought about the other thing he said.

"Hahaha—I'll explain everything later on our date, I don't even think Maya knows my little secret, it'll be a fun surprise…" And with that Max had little time to hurry up and get to the defense attorney's desk in the courtroom.

June 6'th: 12:00 PM : Court Room # 3

The court seats were much fuller than they were the other day; no doubt it was the work of Elis wanting to put pressure on Max. He had to guess there were at least thirty people in each box, he had no idea what her plan was, but he knew it was bad news. He could practically cut the tension in the room with a knife, and the proceedings haven't even started yet!

"Today we will hopefully end the trial of Mr. Phoenix Wright, who has been accused of murder of Prosecutor Miles Edgeworth. Is the prosecution ready?" The judge asked in his usual calm and collected tone, Max had to wonder if that man ever blew his top.

"Shi shi shi~ of course I am ready your honor, I shall be winning this debate today; I predict that in ten minutes you will swing that gavel down and say guilty." Elis chimed as she gave the court a mock curtsy, aimed at Max more than anyone else.

"Very intriguing, I look forward to seeing if your bold claims come to pass or not…." The Judge stated with a light sigh, he felt like he'd heard that line before. "I would assume the defense is ready?" He asked looking toward Max with an even more serious face.

"*gulp* Umm…y-yes your honor, don't listen to her mindless babble; I promise you, Wright is innocent!" Max responded nervously as he felt the weight on his shoulders get a little heavier.

"Ha-ha is that so; well, let us see if you take after your Uncle's attorney skills then. Prosecution, please call todays witness, but before you do so; I assume you have some evidence for the court?" The judge stated calmly as he stroked his beard in thought.

"Shi-shi-shi~ of course your honor, I have the fingerprints from both sides of the gun; and the autopsy report, fresh from the labs this morning." Elis chimed in a chipper tone, like she'd already won the case. "Uhm, before we begin…um…may I ask the judge provide a little leeway today, our witness is a little…he's kind of…he's sort of…." Elis was actually at a loss for words, describing the senile, excitable old fool proved harder than she planned.

"The court has no need for a preface Ms Elis, please call the witness." The Judge ordered with a serious tone as he shook his head in disapproval.

"But I—really hate this….fine…the prosecution calls the award winning director, Extreme G Rackets…." Elis paused and facepalmed when the lights in the court went out and dramatic, adventurous music started to play.

Elis's Conscience: Somebody please, just shoot me now…and get this circus over with…

Max couldn't help but chuckle a little, so even the nerves of steel daughter of the mighty Miles Edgeworth had trouble swallowing this guy? He had to be really something; then again, the old man hadn't entered the court room yet.

"Youth!" It was definitely an older man's voice as scenic lights turned on. "Honor!" Another dramatic pause as the court room was lit. "Ratings! The ultimate samurai of the silver screen, the only director who does his own stunts~ I am Extreme, G Rackets!"

And then a surprisingly well built slightly tanned man who appeared to be around sixty years old busted through the doors and darted up to a spring board, which launched him into the air, he did four front flips before managing a perfect landing at the witness stand. Somehow he'd managed to turn himself around so he'd face the crowd when he landed, the old man's outfit was a Karate Gi, and it came complete with a sheath for his bamboo practice sword.

"I have to cross-examine _this_ guy? What the heck is going on here!" Max mumbled annoyed underneath his breath, well at least he could agree with Elis on this guy.

Wrights Conscience: Welcome to my world Max~ Hehehe~

"Uncle, you're pretty cocky for someone who's accused of murder…" Max added quietly giving his uncle a glare as he took the time to examine the new evidence.

"I told you not to peer into my thoughts like that, it kinda creeps the hell outta me!" Wright uttered in shock as he just about jumped out of his skin.

"And I told you that it's not so easy to control especially when I'm the nervous one here. So unless you have some sort of clue uncle keep your mouth shut and let me do the talking." Max paused and glanced at Maya with a slight frown. "Don't use that "in contempt of court" card this time, I want to win on my own skill understand. Unless I ask for your help on something don't interfere." It was rare that Max ever took things this seriously, but as stated before, his uncle was under the knife for a crime he knew the man didn't commit.

In the few minutes since the court session started, Maxwell seemed like a different person, he wasn't his jolly self, that wasn't the Max Elis knew, in a way she was elated that she could catch him off guard. Though at the same time, it worried her, her opponent was actually taking his job seriously; and if she made one wrong move, if she slipped up one little bit he could peel her mind open like an orange.

_I can't afford to waste spirit power on all of my mental blocks, I need the energy to focus and save Uncle from prison! Probably shouldn't lower them all, two or three out of ten should do fine._ Maxwell thought a little nervously as he took a few deep breaths, actually making himself a little more relaxed in the process.

"You may begin your testimony witness, please leave the fanfare out of this as you will be held in contempt of court for your antics." The judge ordered as he swung down his gavel.

"Righto your honor; anything to put this criminal to justice!" Racket chimed striking a flashy pose before he decided to get started. "Now, I don't know Phoenix all that well, but when I ran into his partner a few months ago she wouldn't stop talking bout him. Eventually she insisted on giving him a part of our little project as it were. Fast forward a little; and I had recently checked into the Gatewater, right around the time the defense checked in. I was planning to do some on-site filming on the night of the murder. We rehearsed a few lines in the room, but other than that it was improv-ya know, on the go recording. When I saw what I saw I couldn't believe my eyes. Just like in the script, Wright fired the gun at a 'witness's' hotel room right next to mine. However he deviated from the script and suddenly shot at my window too, ruining my very expensive camera. He did it just after they finished performing the murder scene according to how things were supposed to go down." Racket explained as he nodded at the judge.

Max had taken the time of the director's lengthily testimony to glance over the evidence that was submitted to the court; the autopsy stated that the subject was found dead at twelve fifteen, the cause was blood loss due to a bullet wound in the stomach. It also stated that there were gunpowder burns around the wound, implying the weapon was fired at close range. The next thing he looked at was the pictures of the fingerprints, they truly were matching fingerprints from his uncle; there was something off however, the prints for the left hand and right hand didn't match. He couldn't make a case with this evidence, it was bulletproof. Speaking of which, upon closer inspection he noted that the pistol had been fired four times, all but two of the six chambers were emptied.

"The defense will now begin its cross examination." The judge demanded seriously as he nodded toward Maxwell.

-Cross Examination: Witnesses Account-

"Now, I don't know Phoenix that well, but when I ran into his partner a few months ago she wouldn't stop talking about him."

"Hold it!" Max slammed a hand down on the desk as he spoke, just like he'd heard his uncle did once in a while.

"Y-yes…speak up youngster, what question do ya got?" Racket was unusually calm as he spoke, in fact the man wasn't intimidated at all.

"You say you ran into my client's partner a few months back…where exactly did you meet her, and what was her name?" Max questioned curiously as he crossed his arms.

"I-I erp, I mean—I was in Kurain Village, miss Maya Fey over there was in heavy training and I was scouting locations for my current project. It was submitted by a fan of my work who requested to remain anonymous in the credits if I produced the movie." Racket explained with a serious tone as he shook his head a little. "She's an innocent gal that one, seems she makes friends everywhere she goes; unlike Mr. Wright over there!" He finished as he drew his practice sword and smacked it down on the witness stand.

"I….see…." Max felt a little down for some reason, did this guy have an excuse to hate Wright before the crime? "Please continue the testimony then…" He uttered a little helplessly, pressing the man on that fact didn't get him any leads at all.

"Eventually she insisted on giving him a part of our little project as it were."

"Fast forward a little; and I had recently checked into the Gatewater, right around the time the defense checked in."

"Hold it!" Max snapped suddenly, biting his lip a little afterward because he said it in such a hurry.

"Let me guess, you're going to ask about my check in time right?" Racket stated with a suspicious tone as he gave Max a glare.

"Ack! Y—yes, what are you glaring at me for?" Max responded nervously, this director was a lot sharper than he thought.

"Sorry sonny—but that information isn't related to this case in the slightest; I checked into my hotel room a day _before_ the murder. So it has nothing to do with this testimony." Racket chimed seriously with a goofy, shit eating grin on his face.

"He has a point…" The Judge stated seriously as he tapped a finger on the desk impatiently.

"He does have a point…but…oh never mind…" Max swallowed his pride and decided not to press further; no point in risking points with the judge on a pointless objection.

"I was planning to do some on-site filming on the night of the murder. We rehearsed a few lines in the room, but other than that it was improv-ya know, on the go recording."

"When I saw what I saw I couldn't believe my eyes. Just like in the script, Wright fired the gun at a 'witness's' hotel room right next to mine."

"Hold it!" Max shouted as he heard the bit about Wright firing a gun.

"Let me guess, you're gonna ask what window he shot at and which gun he fired eh sonny?" Racket snapped back harshly as he slammed his bamboo sword on the desk once more.

"Well, yes…actually, and don't you dare say it's not related to this murder case!" Max answered with a glare as he focused on the old man.

"Fine, fine; if you must know, he fired at the window to the left of my room before firing at my camera, then he shot Edgeworth with the gun and started to walk off the scene." Racket explained with a more calm tone than before.

_To the left of his room huh, wait, that's my room! I wasn't in my room on the night of the murder. Wonderful, I just might end up stepping up to the witness stand myself._ Max thought in surprise as he swallowed down that bitter truth.

"However he deviated from the script and suddenly shot at my window too, ruining my very expensive camera. He did it just after they finished performing the murder scene according to how things were supposed to go down."

"Hold it!"

"What now sonny, you better have a good excuse!" Racket shouted with a bit of frustration in his tone.

"I just want to ask one last thing; do you happen to have the video footage you recorded still in tact? And would you be willing to let the court see what you recorded before the camera was ruined?" Max asked curiously as he put a hand to his chin in thought about that particular nugget of information.

"Shi-shi, so you doubt the witness's testimony because he hasn't shown the court his home movie of what went down? I laugh at your denial, but if you insist, the prosecution submits this video of the murder taking place as evidence." Elis commented with an oddly confident look in her eyes, watching her smile always made Max uneasy.

The judge had a bailiff bring in a small flat screen TV into the courtroom and set it up so that the entire court could get a good view of the whole thing. As they pressed play a time stamp appeared on the lower left corner of the screen, it was about ten minutes before the crime happened. Just as the director stated, the two lawyers were having a conversation according to the script; part of it seemed to be improv as one of them suddenly started griping violently about their salary. Soon enough, the silhouette that looked like Wright pulled out a pistol and fired it off at one of the Gatewater hotel's windows. Just as the director testified, Wright shot a bullet into the victim's stomach at close range; before firing at the camera just as the victim used his last bit of strength to fight back, but it was in vain. Although the video wasn't recording that well anymore, the audio was, and Wright fired another bullet about three minutes later.

"You see my dear sweet Maxwell, you have challenged a foe you cannot defeat; you may have beaten me back on your final exam day, but this is reality kiddo." Elis stated boldly as she moved some of her hair out of the way from her eyes.

"Hmm, this evidence clearly shows that the defendant was acting violently on the day of the murder; and the argument about salary provides a pitiful, but logical motive. I'm sorry Mister Wright; but I'm afraid I have to pronounce you…" The judge hesitated slightly as he made his final decision.

"Objection!" Max spat out in protest, he wanted to help his uncle if he could.

"The defense has found something wrong with the witness's testimony?" The judge asked cocking a brow slightly.

"I…well, it's just…I uh….t…the fingerprints…" Max stuttered as he spoke, he wanted to mention bullets, but he was too busy sweating them at the moment.

"The fingerprints match that of the accused your honor, just swing that gavel down and say guilty already~" Elis chimed with an absurd amount of pretentiousness apparent in her pose and tone.

At this point, Max was starting to feel his blood pump faster and faster, he truly was an amateur, letting the pressure get to him like this! He paced the floor inside the defendant's box over and over as he tried to find a way out of this madness. There was no forged evidence, there were no lies in the testimonies that he could find; and his client had admitted to a crime that he didn't commit.

"N-no…so close….so close…so very close…" Max mumbled over and over, not really paying attention to everyone around him. "I can't believe it, I won't believe it; uncle isn't a killer!" There was no reason to hide his emotions now, he was beaten.

(Face it, the attorney has fallen!)

(Down with Phoenix, the murdering fool!)

(Evidence is evidence and facts are facts; accept it!)

Many such thoughts began pouring into Max's head; they were the inner feelings of the people in the audience. Half of the court wanted his uncle in the electric chair, some of them wanted him hanged, still more were glad that they would be done dealing with the infuriating Wright soon. As time passed his nervousness came to a peak, the thoughts and opinions rushing into his mind weren't helping him think straight.

Mia: Max….I believe you~

"What in the world…a voice that trusts me…" Max paused as he thought for a moment, he thought carefully. "Your honor! G—give me one more chance, another witness, more evidence! Something!" At this point he was visibly trembling as he spoke, the pressure was truly crushing him in every sense of the word.

"Shi-shi-shi, look at you, you're pleading mercy when you have seen every piece of evidence presented to the court? And stop being so shaky, you're getting me nervous over here~" Elis retorted mockingly as she gave Max a sinister wink.

"Damn it all! I just want to help my uncle, it's like we're talking about two different people! Somebody, anybody, please….I'm begging you…" Max was in tears, his voice was cracking too, trying to hold himself back from outright shouting at people.

Mia: Idiot! Pay attention to me!

Max froze in his tracks as a sharp tingle went down his spine, someone or something did respond to his cry for help. Of course the reason for his face turning pale and his body becoming stiff was obvious, whoever had come to help him was no longer with the living. Had his ability finally driven him mad, or was a lingering soul truly trying to give him aid; nervously he turned around to face the direction the voice was coming from.

"G-g…GHOST! Maya has a twin and it's a Ghost!" With that Max fell backward without meaning too and slammed his head against the desk he was standing at.

Max knew one thing about the fey family; save for his mother and a select few, they were all powerful spirit mediums. From the stories his mother told him, the men who had any spiritual ability period were gifted in strange ways; yes, his ability made sense even to him now. Who was the mysterious woman in black who appeared in the nick of time to try and help him? She had Maya's hairstyle, and they looked about the same; he would have to sort things out when he regained consciousness.

June 6th : 12: 45 PM Defendant Lobby #2

"Owww…my aching head, w-where am I…what happened to Uncle!" Max moaned as he regained his consciousness, his ears were ringing like hell but at least his vision was returning.

"You're finally awake!~ I was worried, and…it's okay…sort of…" Maya chimed with excitement as she clapped her hands together, more than likely to thank whatever spirit she was praying to for his safe return. "The Judge ordered a one hour recess after you freaked out, by the way…you saw my sister?" Maya tilted her head as she spoke, genuinely curious about what Max shouted right before his episode ended.

"Only an hour…damn…that's not much time; and…yeah…ack…in fact-she's…standing behind you!" Max was definitely sure this time; it was the spirit of Maya's older sister, who apparently had some fringe benefits to being a spirit medium.

"Oh yeah, sometimes sis comes out and takes over my body to help Nick out of tight spots. I guess I should've told you about that huh? So…is she saying anything about me then, I can feel her presence but…it's weird, I can't reach her." Maya explained with a light sigh of relief, Max seemed a lot calmer now too, he still looked pretty shaken up though.

Mia: Max, I'd rather not talk about this in a public place; so, bathroom…now! And don't make jokes or I might change my mind about helping, only you can see me right now.

Max's face turned red, a spirit of a spirit medium wanted to talk to him in private; he was both flattered and horrified at the same time. He swallowed nervously and stood up without a word, and rushed to the bathroom; he was pretty sure he was hallucinating due to the stress of what was going on. After all, he could only see basically people's sub-consciousness' normally; now all of a sudden he was seeing dead people? Maybe Maya's spiritual prowess was rubbing off on him a bit, whatever the case, about a minute of rinsing his face in water helped him regain his composure.

"I swear, if someone up in heaven is playing stupid pranks on me…whatever…uh—y-you're back! So…you really came to help uncle, but why didn't you just channel yourself through Maya like usual?" Max stated in surprise as Maia's spirit appeared before him once more as he started to leave the restroom.

_So you finally accepted the fact that I'm dead then, good, that makes things easier~ As for the part about channeling through Maya; I don't have to, your ability makes things a whole lot easier for me. _Mia's tone at the very least had become a bit more appealing in Max's ears, but her presence was still intimidating as hell.

"I still don't get it though; I'm supposed to only see people's sub-consciences right? Wait, please don't tell me what I think you're gonna tell me." Max moaned annoyed as he came to a somewhat simple realization.

_Bingo, before the fey developed their current technique; your power was what we used to speak with spirits. I'll explain how to use it to its full potential later, right now Phoenix is still in trouble, but before I give my advice, I must ask you something important. Do you honestly, and I mean completely without a doubt, believe that Phoenix is innocent in all this?_ Mia questioned as she crossed her arms underneath her chest.

"Yeah…my mom's a fey, so I guess that explains things a bit. As for Uncle, hell yeah I believe he's innocent; you think I'd cuss out the judge if I didn't feel strongly about my opinion on the matter? To be honest ma'am…I do have a theory, but there's too many missing pieces…" Max admitted as he decided to go into one of the stalls and lock the door, he actually did have to use the restroom since Mia's first appearance just about scared the shit out of him.

_Think about it more carefully, and don't submit that bullet you found as evidence; that is the easiest trap in the book for a prosecutor to pull, especially for an Edgeworth._ Mia stated with a deep sigh of relief, it seemed Max was sharper than she thought, but he was still way off track.

When Mia quickly disapproved of using an obvious piece of evidence as a trap Max was simply dumbfounded, that was one of the biggest leads he had on solving the case! While Mia described a little bit about how to use his power it sent his head into a spin, he could barely wrap his head around even the basics. It was most likely a direct result of him being a male and not a female, since generally only the woman in the fey family were born with spiritual powers. He spent the greater half of what little time he had left thinking about it more seriously.

"I'm sorry Mia, I—I can't find anything…" Max uttered as he slumped forward in disappointment, he would be in trouble too if he lost this case.

_Maxwell, when thinking with normal logic fails, I've found that thinking with no logic at all succeeds. It has proven to be quite useful in the past, and it really intimidates even the coldest prosecutors. Hmm, did you happen to bring that movie script page you found with you?_ Mia stated as innocently as she could muster; as always, she wanted to gently nudge him in the right direction rather than give it away entirely.

"The movie script page…?" Max blinked in confusion as he pulled the page out of his pocket and stared at it. "Two Wrights; one wrong….two…Wrights? Wait, Two! Eureka! I've got it, I totally got it-it all makes sense now!" Maxwell chimed in excitement as he jumped up from the seat and flushed the toilet in a hurry.

_Is that so~ you must take after your uncle more than I thought, well I'm glad you figured something out; let's pray that you're on the right track. Because if you're wrong, and the prosecution proves it, well you know what happens after that._ Mia responded with a playful tone as she watched him get all full of hope again.

Max didn't even bother explaining his discovery to Maya, in fact he pretty much ignored her on his slow walk back into the courtroom once the recess was over; there really wasn't much time to explain his plan anyway, and as he entered the courtroom he couldn't help but grin at Elis as he sent her a sharp glare. Oh yes, somebody would be tucking their tail and running home today, and it sure as hell wasn't going to be him!

June 6th : 1:00 PM Courtroom #3

_What in the heck-that little prick has his composure back; no, it's more than that…it's like he's not himself at all anymore. Does that mean what I think it…shit, if it does, that means that I'm in serious trouble!_ Elis swallowed hard as she watched Max step up to the defense attorney's desk and casually take his glasses off and put them in the pocket of his suit.

"Ahem! Yes, well that was certainly a surprise…it's rare that a defense attorney breaks down quite like that even under pressure. Now that the recess is over, are you ready to make your final statement Maxwell?" The judge asked seriously as the audience filled the courtroom seats.

"Yes your honor, and please, just call me "Max" from now on." Max answered with confidence in his tone once more. "Although I'm not sure I can make my final statement just yet, you'd better ask the prosecution for their final word." He finished with an almost sinister chuckle as he put his hand to his chin in thought.

"Hmm—your voice seems to be a bit deeper, have you caught a cold perhaps? Either way Max, I suppose you have a point; the prosecution will now make their final statement on the case." The judge was a little surprised at how different the lad's composure and voice had become.

Elis visibly cringed when Maxwell addressed himself as Max; that was definitely not a good sign for her because it meant that the little prick's sub-conscious had taken over entirely. What did Max put together in one short hour, there was barely any time to get to the crime scene and back! Of course, she had planned a trap for him as well; unfortunately if she played this card, there would be no turning back.

"Obviously I am prepared your honor! The prosecution still believes that Wright is guilty, the accused admitted to the police during questioning that he had shot a man in cold blood. The evidence and the witness clearly point out that nobody but Wright could've committed this heinous act." Elis stated seriously as she gave the judge a mock curtsy.

Elis's Conscience: Go ahead and try to worm your way out of this one you amateur, because even your split personality won't save you this time!

"Very well, it would seem that I am ready to make my verdict…but for the record, how does the defense plead Mister Maxwell? And I'd like to hear your final statement, if any." The judge's tone was as serious as ever, the man could keep a straight face through just about anything.

"I told you to call me Max you old fool! Pay attention!" Max snapped sharply as he thought about how to present his theory. "As for my plead, my uncle, Phoenix Wright…is guilty~" Max chimed with a shit-eating grin on his face as he nodded toward the judge.

Wright's Conscience: MAX! What the heck do you think you're doing, are you trying to get me a death sentence?!

It wasn't just the judge that seemed dumbfounded, the director looked like he'd been stabbed in the heart, Elis looked like she was about to have a conniption but quickly regained her composure; and Maya was furious beyond his expectation. The courtroom filled with confused mumblings as well, the time was right, he had to strike while the iron was hot.

"I'm sorry to hear that; but…if I may ask, what is Phoenix Wright guilty of; the murder of Miles Edgeworth, you know that correct?" The judge questioned in surprise as he crossed his arms, something didn't sit right with him about Max's claim.

"Muahaha….you old fool, I swear, it's as plain as day…I'm surprised I didn't see it before! Uncle didn't commit Murder as the prosecution would like you to believe." Max couldn't help but let out a short, evil laugh when he put every piece together.

"Hmmm…well I suppose if you insist on insulting my age I might penalize you if you get one thing wrong. So, if he is not guilty of Murder, what is he guilty of?" The judge tilted his head to the side a little as he spoke, not really sure what to make of Max's sudden change in behavior.

Max would have to choose his words more cautiously, this judge sure didn't take any lip; and he kind of liked it like that. It meant the old man still had some fight left in him, and a strong heart to go with it.

"It is as the prosecution says-Phoenix Wright did in fact shoot someone…" Max paused for a moment, he wanted to see Elis sweat.

"H—hold it right there buster!" Elis protested as she slammed her hands down on the desk in front of her. "You claim that Wright is guilty, that he shot someone, correct? Why are you smiling then, answer me!" She snapped bitterly as she tried to hold back her frustration, he was up to something.

"Patients Edgeworth, you didn't let me finish…" Max uttered with a serious tone as he waved a finger at her like a teacher disciplining a student. "Uncle Wright did shoot someone; however, I never said that he _killed_ someone by shooting them. Moreover, I can tell you exactly who he shot, who the victim really is, and why Uncle was driven to fire a gun, and at a non-fatal spot in the first place!" He explained as he slammed his hands down on the desk even harder than Elis did.

The crowd started making a lot of anxious murmurs and Max could fully understand why, he was attempting to turn the tables on a big gamble. The stakes were definitely high enough, with his Uncle's life on the line, but what Mia was right; sometimes you do have to think on insane grounds when your client truly is innocent. Elis was practically sweating bullets now, and so was the director; there were questions that could be answered, and Max had dug up every last one of them by pure coincidence.

"Order…order, I will have order! Maxwe—er…Max; are you certain that your theory is true? If so, I can give you one more day to investigate. However, if you can't prove it even then…" The judge paused and raised a brow when Max suddenly started laughing like an evil genius.

"I don't need a day, in fact I only need a few more minutes of your time; thirty should be more than enough your honor~" Max was enjoying the look on Elis's face right now a little too much, but he'd earned it. "Maya…would you be kind enough to channel Miles Edgeworth's spirit for me, I'd like to ask him about his murderer." He finished with a slight chuckle as he gave her a closed eyed smile.

"I'm….sorry…I can't…" Maya uttered sadly after trying to do so for a few minutes.

"Don't be shy; you've proven your spiritual prowess to the court before Maya." The judge commented as he stroked his beard in thought, genuinely curious about what Max was getting at now.

"No it's okay really, I'm not nervous or anything; cause I completed my training and all. It's just…I can't find him, wait—that means!" Maya's eyes glimmered with hope when she realized what Max was pointing out.

"That's right, if a spirit medium as strong as Maya can't find the spirit of someone to channel; it means one of two things. Either A, the spirit has moved on which I highly doubt they'd do so soon since they were 'supposedly" murdered recently, or B that they're not dead to begin with." Max chimed with a little bit of hope in his tone as well, good thing he was on the right track so far.

"Objection!"

"Really now Edgeworth….what could you possibly have to object to?" Max responded with a raised brow as he crossed his arms.

"Only fools believe that spirit medium stuff—and besides, even if my father wasn't a victim; a murder is still a murder! How do you explain Wright's prints being on the weapon and the bullet markings matching the gun then if he didn't shoot someone." Elis felt like she was a mouse backed into the corner, she wasn't going to get away from a Wright that easy.

Max thought for a few minutes, Elis had a point about murder being murder; even if he proved that Miles Edgeworth wasn't the victim, there was still a victim. On top of that, Wright's prints were on the gun, and the ballistic markings found on the bullet removed from the victim's body did match up.

"Easy, judging from what I saw of the video proof as you call it; there was a moderate struggle, the victim knocked the weapon out of the murderer's hands with the last of their strength. Imagine for a moment that the person the director thought was Wright was the killer; secondly imagine that Uncle Wright arrives on the scene shortly after the victim, appearing to be Edgeworth is shot." Max paused and put a hand to his chin as he prepared his next claim. "Wright knew he was playing a part in the movie, so he stylishly snatches the gun up, and shoots the killer in a non-fatal spot with the gun. Even though the killer is injured, there was more than enough time for him to make his escape. Gumshoe arrives on the scene, seeing Wright in his confounded state, and assumes the worst…like usual?" It was long-winded, but that was the gist of his theory; and the monkey wrench in Elis's plan to frame his uncle.

Now the court audience was really rowdy, their mumbling could be heard in the next room; some were saying that he had a point, others were saying they could care less, and a few outright denied it and sounded like they wanted Wright to burn. Max couldn't blame them; his theory was insane after all. There was one thought that stuck out most of all though, it seemed to belong to a woman.

Roundabout's Conscious: Crap, at this rate my whole plan will be ruined! I didn't want to do this but this bullet will shut that prick up! Call me a criminal will he?!

Max wasn't prepared for what happened next, someone actually whipped a gun out in the middle of a courtroom; on top of that they shot once at the light, then while it was off another bullet was fired followed by intense pain in his left shoulder. The woman leapt straight out of the audience boxes while everyone was still in shock, skillfully immobilizing the bailiffs by firing at their feet.

"Okay that was so not cool! You're not getting away that easy!" Max growled as he darted after the woman despite his injury.

"Persistant little—you're supposed to be a defense attorney, why are you running after me huh? You think you're some kind of hero!" Roundabout shouted in shock as she could barely manage to get a few feet ahead of the kid, he was a scrawny punk, but he was fast.

"I know you aren't the best of friends with your partner, and I know what it's like to feel different; besides, sometimes the best offense _is_ a good defense!" Max really wasn't trying to stop her, he wanted to distract her from the real threat; and that would be interesting to see.

Of course Max was expecting to maybe see the old director trying to stop her, but as he chased the woman to the last hallway to the exit and rounded the corner of the court building he was in for a big surprise. It was someone who looked exactly like Meloney, the difference being she was wearing a fancy secret agent like uniform.

"Nice words kiddo, I knew there was a reason I liked you~ as for you Miss Roundabout!" The woman charged at the criminal with a low sweeping kick, tripping the criminal up or at least forcing them to stand on one foot. "Your days of meddling in the lives of normal humans are numbered!" She uttered seriously as she gave the criminal a strong jab to the stomach.

The impact of the heavy blow caused her opponent to stumble backward; with the last of her strength Roundabout fired what was left of her ammo at the woman. Shockingly the bullets were deflected by some form of spiritual barrier, the woman was a gifted person just like Max.

"You, you're with the PSA…dammit…of all the…places…" Roundabout managed to stammer out a few words before passing out on the floor.

"Uh…are you who I think you are lady, because that was really badass…" Max was beat read as he eyed the woman over more closely, she did look really familiar.

"It's kind of hard to forget Melons like mine isn't it Max~" Meloney chimed playfully as she patted him on the head. "Look, I'll explain everything later but right now…um, you do know you have a bullet lodged in your shoulder and you're bleeding like a faucet….right?" She asked him with moderate concern as she tilted her head to the side.

"Oh right, ehehe…I kinda got caught up in the moment…I…guess…ow…" Was the only thing Max could say before passing out.

June 14th : 8:00 PM Dr Hotti's Medical Clinic: Room 305

"Ugh, my aching head…I can barely remember…what happened…" Maxwell woke up to find himself in a standardly equipped recovery room in a clinic. His vision was pretty blurred, and his ears were ringing like hell.

"Ah! He's finally awake, Nick, get in here~ He's awake, Max's okay!~" It was a familiar voice, definitely Maya's, though he couldn't really make out what she said from his condition.

A few minutes later he managed to wake himself up fully he noticed a couple of cards on the table, one of them was from Maya; the other was from his uncle, and one was in a blank, white envelope. By the time Max managed to find the remote on the nightstand next to his hospital bed the company came pouring in.

"Wait—the trial, is uncle…is he?" Max couldn't find the words to speak; he never did get around to hearing the final ruling.

"Not to worry hun, Wright truly is innocent and this little accident is all but a news story on channel nine right now. More importantly, I'm glad you're fine…I wanted to make you a job offer." Meloney stated playfully giving Max a pat on the head as she sat on the side of the bed.

Meloney then explained to the group what her real job was; she was a member of the Psychic Surveillance Agency. It was a sort of secret service that hired psychics to track down criminals with unusual powers, like Max's ability or Roundabout's power to transform into anyone she wanted, even fingerprints. Max just wanted to talk to Meloney about normal stuff, but Maya kept cutting in with questions about her powers, oddly enough Meloney seemed pretty open to discuss them.

"That's enough questions Maya, I'm supposed to be a _secret_ agent remember? So…how about it Maxwell kun? Would you like to team up with me and the PSA, you could do some more cool things than you'd ever dream of~" Meloney stated with a serious face as she presented him with a check showing how much the organization paid.

"No thanks, I can barely manage being a Defense attorney…but…um…are we still, you know…." Max's face was as red as a tomato as he thought about what he was trying to say.

"It's normally against the rules to have a relationship with a non-agent, for obvious security reasons…" Meloney answered coldly with a serious expression on her face.

"I see…man, I knew you were out of my league…I mean come on…you're three years older, and you're a bombshell on top of that." Max moaned with a sigh of defeat, he figured as much.

"Don't be silly Max! Look I said you were cute and I meant it, I'll get my boss to pull a few strings with one condition." Meloney paused and gave him a French kiss. "If anyone asks I'm just a ditzy girl that works at the Gatewater, right?" She chimed as she stood up and started to leave, not before slipping her real phone number into Max's hands. "Oh…and don't get too mad about what Maya has to say…" And with that she was gone, not just walking out of the room, she straight up teleported!

Max felt a little uneasy when he was discussing what to do next with Wright and Maya, the entire time Maya seemed to be hiding something. He figured now would be as good a time as any, since they would be working as partners with Phoenix soon. It was something that had been bugging him since he spotted that movie script; when Maya reluctantly gave him the name of her movie he just about had a heart attack.

"Turnabout…Nephew? Wait a second….what the hell, you mean this whole thing was part of some movie?!"

The End?

Ending Notices

1: I apologize for getting the game location wrong, at the time I started writing this story I didn't know that the PW series took place in AMERICA. If I ever make another Ace Attorney fic, you can be sure I won't make that mistake again.

2: This was just a fun little experiment, to see if I could "wright" in this fandom, so I hope you enjoyed the ride. :)

3: I may or may not write more in this fandom in the future. I need to widen my knowledge of the series to begin with first. :3


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